Wind of Change
by Engla
Summary: Noel/Serah. Three short stories. What's going through Serah's mind as she decides to begin her journey with Noel? A story about how feelings grow when they shouldn't and how shared experience can bring you closer together. A story about learning and change.
1. Leaving New Bodhum

**Wind of Change**

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_Kupo!_

_**Clarifying:**__ This is actually connected to my other story "_Nothing compares to you"_, that's written from Noel's perspective. I thought about putting them together but it didn't feel right. This story focuses on Serah and takes place during different times during the _"game play"_. However, note that Serah's story takes place before Noel's._

_Again, I'm really sorry for all the incorrect grammar this entry contains. English is not my first language so I hope that you can bear with me. _

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_**Disclaimer:**__ I own nothing. Characters, names, scenes and settings etc. belongs to Square Enix and Final Fantasy XIII-2._

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**Wind of Change**

**_Leaving New Bodhum 003 AF_**

She hesitated. His hand was still reaching out for her, waiting for her to take it in her own.

"Are you sure that you are ready? You know, once we go through, there might be no coming back." His words were still echoing inside her head, making her feel even more uncertain. No coming back… She gazed around her, taking everything that was New Bodhum, her home, in. It was a beautiful place, no doubt. But something was missing; she knew it with all her heart. But still. She was safe here, content even. Was that worth giving up? She could stay here, she could. Everything would be back to normal; it would be like he'd never existed. Like the _alternative_ wouldn't. She'd teach and wait. And wait. And wait. As she always did. Alone.

Silently, she shook her head. No. She'd waited long enough. For her sister. For Snow. For a sign that she wasn't going insane. Maybe this was it? Maybe _Noel_ was the sign? Noel, the boy with the artefact in his hand. The artefact that could lead her to Valhalla, to Lightning. Suddenly the reality she'd lived in until now seemed like a part of a strange dream. Maybe it had been? Everyday had been the same, it had felt like she'd been embedded in cotton, unable to feel the world around her, and since Snow had left it had just gotten worse. He'd been her rock, the one she always could rely on, and when he'd gone, nothing but emptiness was left to her. Suddenly, knowing her path, she stretched out her hand to Noel who took it in a steady grip and placed both of their hands on the portal.

"You sure?" He said once again, as if to reassure himself that she really was ready.

"Yes." She could hear how weak her voice sounded and it made her a little frightened. But every great adventure started in doubt, did it not? She took a deep breath, pressed Noel's hand a little tighter and then everything began to spin. She should have been even more afraid now, she knew it in her heart, but in some strange way, the spinning made her calm. When New Bodhum seemed to vaporize before them she could feel no regret, only a shiver of hope. This was it. This was her beginning. Her future.

The Historia Crux was like nothing she'd ever seen before. When you finally found something to fix your eyes upon, it was gone, replaced by something entirely else. It was a place, forever moving forward, and yet still a place caught between times. She found it impossible to actually tell time inside of it, it was like there was none, or maybe it was just too much of it. A minute and a day would feel the same, making it hard to focus on a goal ahead. At least for her. Noel seemed eerily comfortable floating around in the nothingness that was the Historia Crux. If it hadn't been for his hand in hers, pushing her forward, she was certain that she would remain in this place. Forever, floating through time.

He was smiling at her and somehow it made her heart ache for him. They were going to save the future. The certainty in his voice when he'd told her his plans had been enough to convince her that he was real. That his plans were. He'd lost everything, but he still got hope. Hope in her, in their journey, in the future. But still, she ached. For the boy who was holding her hand so tightly. It must be so different for him, she thought, coming from a place without a sun, a place without a future. He'd come to save her, he'd said, and in some way she wished that she could save him too.


	2. A silent World, Part 1

**Wind of Change**

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_**A silent World 200 AF**_

_**Part 1**_

She didn't really know when it happened, but slowly things between them began to change. At first, she couldn't put her finger on what it was, but as their journey proceeded, it became clearer to her. She wasn't the same; she wasn't the girl from New Bodhum that couldn't fight. Not anymore. _He'd_ changed her. Maybe they had both changed. It was hard to tell when time itself kept changing around them.

It was a day like any other. They were sitting by the fire; she huddled up in all their blankets while he held the fresh meat over the open fire, the crease between his brows ever present during the procedure. Once in a while he would look up to meet her gazing eyes, his face changing into that crooked smile she'd come to known. Somehow it warmed her more than the blankets around her did. They'd hunted together, her skills improving everyday she'd spent with him. He was a good teacher, better than she could ever have hoped for. He would always tell her to keep her back straightened and her arm as steady as her eyes. There had always been something she had to improve. But not today. Today she'd done everything flawlessly, something he just wouldn't stop telling her about. Even Mog had joined his phrases until she had to cut them short.

The fire was sparkling before her, sending both light and shadow upon the young face opposite hers. Suddenly she realized that she was happy. She knew that she shouldn't be, and she knew it far too well. But this place seemed to relax her. The solitude of it all, the dark sky above, and the sea before them comforted her in a strange way she couldn't explain, even to herself. She'd noticed that the place seemed to have the opposite effect on Noel though, who'd been tense and short with her ever since they'd arrived. Maybe Oerba reminded him to much of the place he'd left behind? Maybe the silence was too much to bear, too similar to the dying lands he'd once came from? She couldn't even imagine how it would feel like to be the only human left alive in a world that slowly ceased to exist. How could one stay sane in a place like that? She couldn't even imagine the anguish it would mean to be all alone in a dying world, knowing that you would be next and you could do nothing to stop it. She shivered and she could feel Noel's eyes on her instantly.

"Are you _still_ cold?" The sincere worry in his words made her smile. How could she explain to him that it was him, the thought of his world that made her body tremble? She knew it would come out wrong no matter how so instead she nodded; wrapping her arms around her body, hoping that the act would leave him content. She didn't expect him to react the way he did. Not at all.

He'd dropped the meat on the stone beside him and hurried over to her side. Before she could object, he'd put his arms around her well-wrapped body and pressed her close to his warmth. She blushed, trying to think out ways to break free without hurting him. Not able to think of any, she relaxed in his embrace, trying to strangle the fact that she enjoyed this far more than she should. She knew that the touch came natural for him and she didn't have the heart to tell him that there were certain unwritten laws to consider in her world. This act, this closeness and comfort wasn't right, she knew it in her heart. But despite that, it felt so right in a way that she couldn't explain. It must be hard for him, she thought, trying to adapt to a world he'd never known. How could she expect him to handle himself in all social situations when, in the end, he'd been the only one left in his world? The warmth from the fire and from his body made her sleepy and she closed her eyes, hoping that tomorrow would be a cold day.


	3. A silent World, Part 2

**Wind of Change**

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_**A silent World 200 AF**_

_**Part 2**_

It was clear to her that the days they spent in Oerba took their toll on Noel. For every day that passed, he seemed weaker than the one before. Something was bothering him, straining him, and there was nothing that she could do that would make it stop. Sometimes he seemed so lost inside his own world where nothing could reach him. If it went any further, she didn't know if she'd trust him in battle. His mood did even affect Mog, who'd started to linger in his bow-form even after their battles.

As the days passed by, she didn't shiver as she had when they'd first arrived, her body becoming accustomed with the rough climate that was Oerba. Instead it was Noel that kept trembling, each night worse than the day before. She could feel his agony, his pain and his despair; it was breaking her apart just as it so clearly broke him. They lay on each side of the fading fire, the dull glow from it casting shadows around them, playing with her imagination. Before they came to Oerba, Noel always used to face her when sleeping, as if to make sure that she was still there and safe asleep. But now, he had his back turned to her, shutting her out. From the distance, she couldn't tell if he was sleeping or not, and it didn't really matter, his body would tremble either way. She lay on her side, studying the man opposite her, waiting for the shakes to take over his body as she knew that they would. And when they did come, she had to turn her back to him, knowing that she couldn't bear to watch it once again. She pressed her eyes shut tight as if it would help her erase the image of him. Even with all her strength, she knew that it would be futile. Instead, she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to shut everything else out. But it was impossible. For even though she couldn't hear it, she could _feel_ how he was breaking, just a few meters away.

She didn't remember deciding. In fact, she didn't even remember forming the words in her mind. But somehow, she'd gotten to her feet, crossing the few meters that separated them. As she stood there, looking down at him, her heart began to race, doubt slowly rising deep inside her. _What was she doing?_ She should turn back, she should let him ride this out on his own. But before she knew it, she'd huddled up behind the trembling body, putting her arm around him and held him as close as she could. She could feel him go tense and for a moment she regretted her act, but then slowly, she could feel his body relaxing, even the shakes seemed to ease.

"Serah?" He breathed, his voice steadier than she'd thought it would be.

"Yes?"

"Finally." She could make out a smile, spreading across his face and she laughed as she punched his arm lightly.

After that night it became a habit to spend their nights close together. It helped against Noel's shakes as much as for the cold. They helped each other, in a way and even though Serah knew that this couldn't last, she deeply wanted it too. During most of the nights, Noel would sometimes wake, panicking until he felt her, close to him. When it happened, she would press her arm around him more tightly, until he relaxed and his breathe would be back to normal again. She imagined that it was the thought of being alone again that frightened him and all she could do was to reassure him that she was there, right beside him. That he wasn't alone. The contact with another body did frighten her a little. She had promised herself to Snow and she wouldn't break that promise, even though she felt a different kind of closeness to Noel than she did to Snow. She told herself that it was only for comfort, that they saved each other, over and over again. What they had was nothing more than a deep friendship. At least, that was what she had to believe. But still, she felt something stir, deep inside of her and she had to use almost all of her strength to suffocate it. She knew that without Noel, she'd be lost. Lost in an uncertain future where she so easily could lose her grip. Noel was her reality; Noel was the one that kept her sane. Right now, that was all that mattered. She couldn't say what would happen when everything was over, but she did know, even at the beginning of their journey, that she'd changed. She'd learned to take care of herself, to trust her instincts and she'd learned to fight for herself. But most importantly, she'd learned how it was to trust another person again. Noel wouldn't leave her, she was certain of it. He was one of those persons who always needed someone by his side, as close as possible, and for him, for his sake, she would be that person. She should worry about tomorrow. She should picture Snow before her. She should feel a different kind of longing in her heart. She should. Instead, she pushed herself closer to Noel, closer to his warmth. And as his hand closed around hers, she didn't pull away. She could worry another night. For this one, was already perfect.


End file.
